By David Bramwell

In Search of the Pagan Heart of Britain

Since 2010 David Bramwell has been performing as Lord Summerisle in Sing-Along-A-Wicker-Man, a show that attracts more than its fair share of pagans, despite the film’s portrayal of them as a homicidal cult. Across history and culture in the West, pagans have invariably been portrayed as purveyors of the dark arts. But what is it that has led us to demonise a way of life that honours nature and gave us such beloved festivals as May Day, Halloween, and Yuletide?

In this entertaining and thought-provoking “scrapbook,” Bramwell unravels the history of The Wicker Man and its irreverent and popular sing-along and charts how, despite an unpromising start, the film’s current status as an iconic cult means that it has been referenced everywhere from comedy shows and a Radiohead video to a homespun Muppets comic book remake.

Undertaking a quest to understand our relationship with paganism in contemporary culture, Bramwell hangs out with druids at Glastonbury, rewrites the “unholy trinity” of folk horror, participates in May Day rituals, and meets The Wicker Man’s Robin Hardy and musician Julian Cope, revealing an island still alive with rituals and traditions that the author himself will come to fully embrace.

“Frankly genius … Hits all the wrong notes” —The Guardian

“Good fun! David’s work is always a joy and this is another fascinating and entertaining read.” —Philip Carr-Gomm, co-author of The Book of English Magic

The Peculiar Parish Bookshop is proud to carry this irreverently reverent new book.

Published by Nightfinch Books (2023). A new book in perfect condition.

92-page perfect-bound paperback, profusely illustrated throughout.